Current members
Kevin Bowley
Kevin is an assistant teaching professor in the Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science at Penn State University – University Park. He grew up in western New York state and developed an appreciation of the weather from Lake Effect snow storms and sailing on Lake Ontario. He earned his B.S. from Penn State University in meteorology in 2009, M.Sc. from McGill University in 2011, and Ph.D. from McGill University in 2017. He returned to Penn State in the fall of 2017 in his current role. His research interests are centered on topics in synoptic meteorology. Current specific research focal points include diagnosing changes in the energy budget of the atmosphere (Zonal and Eddy available potential energy) as well as exploring Rossby wave and Rossby wave breaking frequencies and processes. He is further exploring changes in synoptic scale patterns and variability in future climate simulations. His teaching portfolio includes multiple general-education courses in our department as well as upper-level undergraduate courses in radar meteorology, synoptic meteorology and forecasting, and technical scientific writing and experimentation. He has further explored introducing implementing new technologies into the classroom through a series of projects including the Snowflake Selfies project that explored new approaches toward documenting snowfall events, the utilization of 3D printing technology for printing observational equipment, and the new Penn State ReForecast Simulator that will introduce a new and innovative approach toward teaching weather forecasting (http://climate.met.psu.edu/reforecast/). In his free time, Kevin enjoys bike riding, playing ultimate frisbee in the local State College league, and exploring the outdoors.
Grant LaChat
Grant graduated with his B.S. in Meteorology and a minor in Energy, Business, and Finance from Penn State in May 2021 and is currently a graduate student in the Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science at Penn State. He completed work with the Aviation Weather Center as an Ernest F. Hollings Scholar during the summer of 2020. His work was focused on the intersection of aviation and meteorology, especially with the meteorological impacts on planning operations across the National Airspace System. Grant is currently conducting graduate research at Penn State with Dr. Kevin Bowley and Dr. Melissa Gervais on the implications of Rossby Wave Breaking on climate and synoptic-dynamic scales. Outside of academics, Grant enjoys all types of team sports. He plays baseball, softball, and enjoys watching college football and college basketball, which means you can usually find him at Beaver Stadium during the fall and at the Bryce Jordan Center during the winter.
Past members
Karl Schneider
Karl graduated from the Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science with a B.S. with honors in meteorology at Penn State in 2020 where he was Science Marshall for the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. His work brought him back to Penn State where he completed a Masters Degree supervised by Dr. Matthew Kumjian which he completed in 2023, and he is now a Researcher in the department. He is a highly skilled forecaster and is an on-air personality for Weather World, where he has helped pioneer new student roles on the show. Karl has also worked extensively on the Penn State University ReForecast Simulator (PSU-RFS), helping to develop a suite of model and observational projections, built an internal framework for the simulator system, and has identified unique cases to implement in the simulator. The beta-version of the simulator, tested at Penn State in 2019-20, was the subject of his senior honors thesis with the Schreyer Honors College. Outside of the classroom, he owns his own business – Snow State – which utilizes his meteorological and engineering knowledge to provide home snowmaking services and snowmaking equipment design. In his free time, he enjoys spending time outdoors through all seasons, working outside in the summer, and skiing in the winter.
